IR TV Review: LOKI - EPISODE 5 [Marvel/Disney+-S2]
The context of Loki after the last episode is where do you go from there and do you top it? The question most specifically is how do you pivot to make the reality your own. The ending of the last episode was so absolute that is almost hard to write anything without spoiling it for this episode. However, that said in a way, it almost does a reverse "Matrix" approach which is to say the one thing that can bring down Loki makes him one of the only people to affect change. In one part of the story, when he is sitting down almost with himself, he puts in words what he really wants and what perhaps has evolved about him. Whether or not that is truism or simply an extension of his Id remains to be seen. What is interesting is the context from earlier in the season of causality and the essence of the chicken and egg because, like when Miss Minutes gave the TVA handbook to Victor in the past, how does that affect what we see and hear. Is this what happened to create things or is this what is going to happen?
While the MCU has been having trouble recently stabilizing itself, part of the reason lies in the fact that this kind of science can be complex to understand. Ke Huy Quan's character really helps normalize this but some of the writing has to operate at a high level of bridging which again can confuse some people. The former element with the blip (for example) is much easier comprehension-wise. That said it all comes down to people's motivations and what they were before that perhaps makes them what they are or could be in the TVA. The question becomes time and actual completion. The thought from last season is that the series was moving towards The Kang Dynasty but it will be interesting to see how that or Deadpool 3 figures in or if this expanded and dense universe is simply too much. It is great that Disney+ is able to tell such deep storylines. When they work, there are brilliant moments like in "Loki" (and also "Ahsoka"). This episode shows that there are paths from any situation but it is a matter of treading in a very specific way where the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. A-
By Tim Wassberg
